"Desperation"

  • Thread starter Thread starter K-dub
  • Start date Start date
I liked how clean everything sounded.... however, I would have liked to hear the vox punched up a bit. When listening, the drums and bass sit a little too up front and take some of his thunder.
 
I agree 100%. I've brought the main vocal out more ... and I set the drums/bass more back (new version above). At the same time, I've added some outro bgvs...I'm still debating whether to add more.

Thanks peppered!

Kev
 
Ok, I listened to it again this morning,..... being an artist, as well as a wanna be musician, I sometimes find it hard to know when to just stop. After further review, I thought of a few of things I would play with if I had my druthers.

1. The floor tom in the middle of the song sounded a bit too far to the right, and took my focus off the vocals. Don't know if you can even adjust that, but just my 2cents there.

2. Horns in the mid-end of song need some more air, I'm sure the people behind those are putting more into them then they sound. The level was fine, but I thought they could sound thicker, maybe double them or add a slight chorus or verb effect........ whatever it takes to fatten them up.

3. Vox are nice and loud, but again I'd like to hear a wider spectrum on the sound. Maybe double it and add a slight chorus to the second, and reduce the level of that one so it's just a minimal effect. Like a backup of himself.

Anyway, I'm not anyone special, but I just trust my ever developing ears. Good job so far!


K-dub said:
I agree 100%. I've brought the main vocal out more ... and I set the drums/bass more back (new version above). At the same time, I've added some outro bgvs...I'm still debating whether to add more.

Thanks peppered!

Kev
Click to expand...
 
I'm a fairly fast typist, peppered, so I have a clue as to how long it took you to write the above critique, and I'm therefore extremely,extremely grateful for your time. :D

I will attend to your observations ...

It's really quite curious. I've LONG been a contributor to such boards as this, and have mostly found posters to be quite helpful. But it always seems that a pattern emerges on various forums ... and I hate to say that I find such input as yours more rare than one would like to believe.

I am beginning to feel that all such venues are a bit ... spotty at best ... and in the end one must question whether it's justified to continue to contribute to any given forum. This is not a condemnation of any given forum/site ... as here I'm isolating a common trend I've observed after many years of contributing to such forums. So this isn't a pointed stab at the many individual threads here that go unattended ... it's just a general query regarding the "state of the forums" broadly.

The base question, I see, is: "How many songs/critiques/comments can a forum community really support?"

When a site becomes more popular, and hence, TONS of folks contribute their songs for assessment ... how many can truly be critiqued? No matter how good a particular tune is, there comes a limit/realistic restriction to the amount of folks viewing and the amount of folks qualified to comment.

How much time can be devoted to listening to other folk's productions when one is trying so hard in the limited free time one has ... to make their own?

It's a quandry ... I just watch sooooo many threads drop off the first few pages of this forum completely, non-warrantedly unanswered ... the only explanation is that people are just too preoccupied and busy to respond ...

... not scathing criticism, just realistic observation ... with questions.

Kev.
 
Hey Kdub--This is a great song--I really liked the work on the keys and horns--very good!The vocals sounded fine to me however the rhythm guitar sounds a little weak--It needs something to fatten it up...Other than that hey--I think the mix is great---Great harmonies and arrangement at the end especially--I really liked that!!
 
Cool rhythm, beat and guitar. Liked the horn sounds on the chorus bits...if they were chorus, I don't know. Really impressive
 
Although I commented above how tough it is to review so many mixes, it's still amazes me how much help the extra perspective is.

I'd "thinned" the guitar in the mix you heard, dolod44, by cutting a lot of freq in the 500-1k range, and I boosted the 2-3k area to have it cut through. Evidently, it was to thin ... so I nudged more meat back into it.

I also took all of peppereds' suggestions and experimented with vocal/harmony/production techniques ... added air to the horns ... cut some of that middle tom back (so it doesn't stick out as far -- I can't change the panning).

The current version above has all the changes ... so I hope it's coming along ... (and thanks for the vote of confidence Monkey Allen!). In particular, I'd be interested in hearing what's thought about the added vocal tracks ... are they moving in the right direction (the tracks I added are basically sketch pad quality to get an idea of what they sound like).

Kev
 
Yeah!!!! It rocks. I keep looping it here at work, and the energy is oozing from the track. It's a get ya going groove. Love the punch in the horns, and the chorus with the backup vox are powerful, amen.

I will agree that sometimes it's hit and miss when posting music for review. Only you know when it's truely finished, and has all the elements in place the way you want the world to hear it.

What's important is that we all keep sharing our efforts....... regardless of the type of feedback we get, I think we're all just wanting to know someone is listening.
 
The mix sounds fine to me. I think that the vocals might be a little too high, but I usually like to have vocals not so much upfront. Interesting song, and the playing is flawless. I would like to hear more bass.

Nice work. I'm going to be checking out your other stuff on the site.
 
--I actually count on the addl ears to lend perspective while I'm producing the tune. I'm not shy about trying something that doesn't work, as I tend to experiment and then bounce the results off of others. I'm glad you thought the layering of the new vox appropriate, peppered!

--I think a smidge more bass is a good idea too strat0tele ... to me, the bass playing IS this tune. I still have to apply tighter harmonies/layering to the vocal, as these were the first mock ups to simply see what it sounded like in production. Armed with the knowledge, I now have a better idea of where to apply them, and where to leave them out. I adjust the bass when I post up the new mix w/ the tighter vocals.

Thanks!

Kev.
 
I think I'm nearing the end of the road on this one.

I had a couple minutes after getting home from work, and I try to leave everything "good to go" in the studio, so I can plug in and fuck everything up quickly.

I quickly laid the vocals, added a slight delay to the horns, brought up the piano levels, and added some new bgvs.

...speaking of which, could I have a show of hands who hate the "la la"s in the bridge???

Thanks so much!

K-
 
K-dub said:
--I think a smidge more bass is a good idea too strat0tele ... to me, the bass playing IS this tune.
Thanks!

Kev.
Click to expand...

Definitely. I heard some pretty interesting bass playing going on. Thats why I suggested it needs to be turned up.
 
Very good!

This song is fun and tight and interesting throughout. Recording is excellent. I'm glad you put in the backround vox, though I didn't hear it without. From what I can tell on so-so computer monitors, the mix is pretty well nailed. I like a little brighter bass, a little more attack and growl, but this works pretty well in this song. It seems more like a bridge to me, but the la' la's are ok with me--they're not 'in your face', just hanging back there.

Great job all around.
 
Change at 1:25 really took me by surprise in a great way. I'm diggin' on the bass guitar. Great swell vocals at 2:33. Nice work. I think you got a great vocal sound there, in terms of the reverb you're using - it fits the song well.

-Casey
 
Hey Casey- I used a short slapback delay -- in keeping w/ the rock-a-billy boogie feel of the tune I was pretty much going for. Glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting!

Icanus- The above mix is close, but I agree w/ you (after living w/ the mix for a day or so) that the bass could poke through in the "growl" freq range just a tad more. I'll adjust in a bit and quietly post up the changes. Thanks for chiming in!

Anyone think the horns sound a tad "KC and the Sunshine Band" -ish? I can't change them ... but I was just interested if the delay on them might have lent that impression...

Thanks!

Kev-
 
Very cool tune man - love the drums on this. I guess I got the latest mix... I would pull the horns up a tiny bit IMHO, but that's just a minor thing. This is a VERY hot tune - SMOKIN'
 
The drummer is a pro - he's always great. I only wish I was half as good on my instruments as he is on his. Glad you liked the tune!! I'm going to work a hair more on it this morning and hopefully get the final revisions posted up by late afternoon.

Thanks for your input!

Kev
 
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